Above: The sun sets in Virginia’s Shenandoah National Park; the view is into the Shenandoah Valley, toward Massanutten Mountain, from the Franklin Cliffs trail.

Our working title for this feature was “Moving Mountains” – profiles of people and organizations that are making a difference in the region: in the environment, in social issues, education, politics or otherwise. We contacted people throughout our nine-state coverage area, people with their fingers on the pulse, to borrow a phrase, of Appalachia – journalists, activists, environmentalists, scholars. We asked them for their perspectives on those whose energies and ideas are shaping the present and the future of the region.

They wrote back with lists of of names, individuals and organizations, making it difficult for our editorial staff to narrow down the field to 10.

Early on in the discussion, we realized “Moving Mountains” wasn’t really an appropriate title for this section – these days, the people who are moving mountains have taken it past the metaphorical and into the literal, as the devastated, destroyed peaks of Kentucky, West Virginia and southwest Virginia show all too well. So we’ve retitled this feature in response to those suggestions, one of which came from our longtime contributing editor, Elizabeth Hunter. In this issue’s “From the Farm,” she emphasizes the point in an eloquent, bittersweet eulogy to one man she says didn’t move mountains – rather, he kept them in place.

That’s what the people in the following pages are doing. They’re keeping our mountains in place, making sure we hold fast to our roots, our heritage, our independence, while finding ways to protect, celebrate, strengthen and draw the world’s attention to the things that make us who we are – the communities, the landscapes, the forests and rivers and people who shape Appalachia as we know it today, and tomorrow, and the next.

—Cara Ellen Modisett

Virginia Tech Profiled by Cathryn McCue www.vt.edu Virginia Tech, surrounded by the mountains of Virginia's New River Valley, is at the forefront of research focused on the Appalachian region's ecosystems. Photo by Joshua Ian Armstrong/ Courtesy Virginia Tech

Anthony Flaccavento, Appalachian Sustainable Development Profiled by Elizabeth Hunter www.asdevelop.org Appalachian Sustainable Development, under the directorship of Anthony Flaccavento, focuses its attention on regional farming and on sustainable forestry. Photo by Rebecca Brooks

Author Barbara Kingsolver Profiled by Su Clauson-Wicker www.kingsolver.com “We are a nation with an eating disorder,” says author Barbara Kingsolver, who advocates growing and eating locally. Photo by Steven L. Hopp

Rodney Bartgis, The Nature Conservancy Profiled by Su Clauson-Wicker www.nature.org Buffalo clover, cedar glades and natural prairies – all thought not to exist – were discovered in the Appalachian mountains by Rodney Bartgis. Photo by Debra Auble

Warren Wilson College Profiled by Cathryn McCue www.warren-wilson.edu The Warren Wilson College EcoDorm incorporates energy-efficient designs and renewable-energy sources. Warren Wilson students were heavily involved in its conception and planning. Photo Courtesy Warren Wilson College

Emily Spencer, Mt. Rogers Combined School Profiled by Deborah R. Huso https://www.edline.net/GroupHome.pagewhitetopmountainband.tripod.com Emily Spencer (front row, far right) teaches as many as 100 students a year traditional Appalachian music. Photo by Katie Thornton

Dr. Roberta Herrin, East Tennessee State University’s Center for Appalachian Studies and Services Profiled by Elizabeth Hunter www.etsu.edu/cass Pat Beaver, Appalachian State University’s Center for Appalachian Studies Profiled by Elizabeth Hunter www.appstudies.appstate.edu Roberta Herrin (left) and Pat Beaver are designing college curricula to reflect and celebrate Appalachian heritage. Photo by Elizabeth Hunter

Karen Cragnolin, RiverLink Profiled by Deborah R. Huso www.riverlink.org In the water – literally – Karen Cragnolin has immersed herself in issues along Asheville, N.C.’s French Broad River. Photo by Laurie McCarriar

Beth Obenshain, New River Land Trust Profiled by Joe Tennis www.newriverlandtrust.org Beth Obenshain is working to keep the New River’s water clean and much of the adjacent land in its natural state. Photo by Emily Smith

Mountaintop Removal Mining Activists Profiled by Cathryn McCue (no picture)

Larry Gibson www.mountainkeeper.org Larry Gibson lives on land that his been in his family for 200 years.

Kathy Selvage www.samsva.org Kathy Selvage lobbies in Washington, D.C.

Maria Gunnoe www.ohvec.org Maria Gunnoe with her dog in Big Branch hollow, Bobwhite, W.Va. Seven floods since 2001 have taken five acres of her property, poisoned her well water and taken out two vehicular access bridges. She now spends $250 a month on bottled water after the natural ground water source was deemed a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System stream by the W.Va. Department of Environmental Protection. Photo by Anitrim Caskey

Joe Lovett www.appalachian-center.org Joe Lovett was photographed on an MTR panel at the American Folk Art Museum in New York City.

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